Thought this would be appropriate rather than start a new thread every time Boston or L.A. play....

Tough games tonight for Boston and L.A. Boston at Miami with a plethora (channeling my inner Jim Ross) of injuries and Lakers at Houston. Lakers follow up with another tough one tomorrow at San Antone while the Cavs take their act to Phoenix...

I can't see L.A. going 2-0 on the 2-step. Especially at the Spurs who are playing excellent ball right now. Winners of 3 straight and 7 of the last 10.

Meanwhile Boston playing with no KG, No Rondo, No Big Bush League at the Heat. They still have Pierce and Allen though. Maybe Stephon Shitbury can finally give them something, ANYTHING to warrant the stupid ovations the chowds give him every time he enters a game.

Every game is a must win from here on out for Cavs, Lakers and Celtics.

"If I sell a lil' crack, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I die in Iraq, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I take you fo granted, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

osucrazy18 wrote:I think Mickey Mouse is outta this race. Come on Dwade lets see this whole MVP thing skip bayless has been talking about

Orlando has probably already lost more games than the Cavaliers will this season. IMO the Cavs are going to finish 66-16 or 65-17. Either way, I don't think the Magic can catch the Cavs.

I would LOVE for Flash to go MVP on the Celtics tonight because Boston can realistically only afford to lose 1 or 2 more times this year before the Cavaliers lock them out for the conference lead. All of this provided the Cavs handle their business at Phoenix and Sacto.

"If I sell a lil' crack, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I die in Iraq, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I take you fo granted, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

osucrazy18 wrote:I think Mickey Mouse is outta this race. Come on Dwade lets see this whole MVP thing skip bayless has been talking about

Orlando has probably already lost more games than the Cavaliers will this season. IMO the Cavs are going to finish 66-16 or 65-17. Either way, I don't think the Magic can catch the Cavs.

I would LOVE for Flash to go MVP on the Celtics tonight because Boston can realistically only afford to lose 1 or 2 more times this year before the Cavaliers lock them out for the conference lead. All of this provided the Cavs handle their business at Phoenix and Sacto.

Lake Show has a tough schedule to finish out. After this 3 game trip the Cavs are at home for most of the season. Good a chance as anyone to secure home court.

plus the lake show won't have the services of lamar odom in their next game either as he will have to sit out a game after being suspended for dunderheadingly leaving the bench in that fracas in portland the other night.

it's one thing for them to be playing without bynum, but to also be without odom is a serious handicap for them. just look at what he did against the cavs.

now i'm not just being "the optimist" here when i say that the cavs have a serious chance of going undefeated for the rest of march, but they really do as 8 of their last 9 games in the month will be at home in the "q".

the only game that really scares me is thursday night's game in phoenix. unlike when the cavs beat them at home, steve nash will play this time around and shaq is playing "turn back the clock" since the all-star break and with the way the cavs have struggled with big guys inside here lately, i can see shaq going off for one of those monster 35 points & 20 rebounds type of games. gawd, i hope not.

the cavs really need delonte west to bounce back too. 2 points??? for all the problems mo had, at least he still managed to score 14 points.

there was an earlier topic after the cavs lost to boston that somebody said it was all on lebron for going 5-for-15 and "only" scoring 21 points and i begged to differ with them as lebron turned right around and had another 5-for-15 night the very next night against miami and the cavs still won because he got ample help from his supporting cast, unlike in boston.

lebron can only do so much and although many times he can almost single-handedly will the cavs to victory much like he did last night, but when he doesn't get any help from delonte, mo, z or the bench, well then hell yeah the cavs are gonna struggle. thankfully, it doesn't happen that often.

JoJo White wrote:Heat up by 6 with a minute to go. Allen and Pierce at 40 minutes again.

Pierce showing fatigue by missing 2 of 3 free throws very late in the game.

Oscar Robertson, a great free throw shooter, used to talk about how to practice shooting them: shoot a bunch before practice, during a break in practice, and after practice. It's important to be accustomed to shooting free throws when your body is fatigued.

"At least the Scots didn't have to tune in with the rest of the country and watch their women get plowed by Longshanks and his men."~Commodore Perry on the difference between baseball's flawed economics : Indians :: prima nocta : Scots

Heck, lets get greedy. Not only do we want HCA, do we want Orlando to overtake Boston for the #2 seed??? I say yes. Boston's playoff experience is what makes them worrisome. Make them win a series w/o HCA before they have to take on the Cavs w/o HCA. Give them the hardest route possible. I don't think Orlando is a cake-walk either, however, the playoff pressure will be knew to them, though.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

Celtics at home tonight against the lowly Griz...Cavaliers at the even lowlier Sacto Kings...

Cavaliers cannot afford to let down tonight and give a game back to Boston. Plus a win pulls them back to even with L.A. Back to back on the road shouldn't be an issue as Sacto is the NBA version of the Washington Generals...

Boston NEEDS this win badly. If they lose to the Griz? Sheesh it would be all but over for their hopes of catching Cleveland...

Damn the Lakers just spanked that azz on the 2-step. Now they go home for I believe 3 before they embark on a 7 game east coast swing...

"If I sell a lil' crack, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I die in Iraq, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I take you fo granted, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

All 3 of the contenders next action is tomorrow with Cleveland home against the Knickerbockers, L.A. hosting the Mavs and the C's on the road in Milwaukee...

After such a long time away from home can the Cavaliers get it together in time to beat New York? Typically these are very tough games to win. Hopefully the Cavs can

L.A. gets 3 home games before they hit the east coast for 7 straight. The Mavs are 40-26 so they're no slouches. Can't see them beating L.A. though. We can always hope.

The big one is Boston at the Bucks. Milwaukee fighting for that last playoff spot. Boston still banged up. Can the Bucks sack up at home and take care of business? A Celtic loss + a Cavaliers win and I might stop including Boston in this thread...

"If I sell a lil' crack, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I die in Iraq, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

If I take you fo granted, aint nuthin to it, gangsta rap made me do it...

jamesownsdet wrote:A Celtic loss + a Cavaliers win and I might stop including Boston in this thread...

Easy, Kimosabe

Just sayin...if the Celtics fall 4 games behind in the loss column with 16 to go they are toast. Especially with a road game at the dreaded Q still left on their docket.

Heck, if the Celtics started losing that much I'm going to become a Celtics fan, because that would mean Superman and the Magic are going to be the Cavs' biggest threat, and even without Jameer Nelson that would make me quite concerned.

Somehow ... Someway ... Give us JUST ONE VICTORY ... and we're on our way!

I think Boston may just be better re-evaluating their chances at #1. May be better off resting guys and settling even for #3 at this point. No need to rush KG back one would begin to think.

Playing here is the closest thing to heaven. Really, I mean it's amazing to be in a place where the fans truly cherish their football team and stick behind them win or lose. We players love them, too. I feel a sense of accomplishment playing here, we are a special breed of football players with a great opportunity." ~ tOSU LB Brian Rolle

I know the Celtics players will not and have conceded anything but it is great to see some of their die( not so)- hard fans abandon ship. Especially since they were so haughty after that 19 game win streak! As I said on another thread, those still rooting for the C's are faced with having to root for us against Orlando Tuesday just so they don't drop to the 3rd seed.

We have a magic number of 13 with 11 home games left. If we win all those home games(including games against the Celtics and Magic), the best the Celtics and Magic could do is tie us.(if they win the rest of their games and we go 0-5 on the road)

We do have some really tough home games left, but we'll be favored in all of them. The ones that worry me are obviously the Magic, Celtics and Spurs games. All the road games will have some level of difficulty, with the hardest being a trip to Orlando. The rest are very winnable if we stay focused.

I know the Celtics players will not and have conceded anything but it is great to see some of their die( not so)- hard fans abandon ship. Especially since they were so haughty after that 19 game win streak!

LOL, you have folks in here waving the white flag when the Cavs get down by 10 in the first half of games.

"At least the Scots didn't have to tune in with the rest of the country and watch their women get plowed by Longshanks and his men."~Commodore Perry on the difference between baseball's flawed economics : Indians :: prima nocta : Scots

CHICAGO (AP) — Boston Celtics forward Leon Powe left Tuesday's game against the Chicago Bulls with a bruised right knee.

Powe was injured in the first quarter, when he banged knees with Chicago's Ben Gordon while trying to set a screen. He headed to the sideline and returned briefly before leaving the game late in the period. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.

The Celtics have been hit hard by injuries lately, most notably to Kevin Garnett. The All-Star forward sat out his 12th straight game with a sprained right knee.